MANUSCRIPT CORRECTIONS 



A COPY OF THE FOURTH FOLIOl 



SHAKSPEAKE'S PLAYS. 



MA NUSCRI] T CORE ECTION S 



A C P Y V T II E F U R T II POLIO 



SHAKSPEARE'S PLAYS. / 






6t4^J.&- 



BOSTON: 
TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS. 



M DCCCLIV. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853] by 

Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 

Hi- Clerk's Office of tiie District Court of the District of Massachu etl 



a* 



1 N T It O I) U C T 1 N 



The emendations to the text of Shakspeare that .Air. Collier 
has recently given to the world, have brought into notice other 
copies of the first folios, upon whose pages some annotator has 
been busy. Such manuscript corrections, though of no critical 
authority, may nevertheless be curious as the careful suggestions 
of some old student of the poet. Among the many writers who 
have undertaken to improve Shakspeare, there are a few of talent 
and ingenuity, who have unquestionably succeeded in trifling 
instances, where the great poet indulged in license not in accord- 
ance with a later and purer taste. Suggestions from such sources, 
especially those which aim at correcting the many misprints of 
the early editions, seem worthy of attention. The slight alteration 
by which some striking and characteristic felicity of expression may 
be obtained from language turgid and obscure, often seems such 
strong evidence of the probability of the annotator's conjecture, 
as to warrant the presentation of the improved reading in a note. 
That no sufficient authority can exist to incorporate such a read- 
ing with the text bequeathed to us by Heminge and Condell, is a 
point upon which, before the late publications of Mr. Collier, 
Shakspearian editors and critics were supposed to be unanimous. 

The amendments collected in the present volume are taken 
from a copy of the folio of 1685. The chirography and spel- 
ling are of antique fashion, though their date cannot well be 
assigned. The corrections occur with more or less frequency 
through sixteen of the plays. Their number (i I such 

gross and obvious misprints as are corrected in all modern i di- 
tions) is something less than four hundred. Of these, nearly 



I 

thirty are illegible, and perhaps as many more seem very trilling, 
or even doubtful, improvements. Among those that remain, there 
are some that embody original and striking suggestions. These, 
together with others to exhibit the general character of the emen- 
dations, are published as literary curiosities. No faith is professed 
in their claim as restorations of the genuine text ; though the evi- 
dent propriety of some of the changes may be such as to warrant 
their acceptance as probably correct. Such alterations as cor- 
respond with those in Mr. Collier's notes, have been generally 
omitted — it is sufficient to say that several of the simplest and 
best of his changes are supported by this corrector. 

Although these emendations can at present have no other claim 
to our consideration than that of clever conjectures, there seems 
reason to suppose them copied from some source which the writer 
considered as furnishing a purer text. This is inferred from the 
petty character and perfect unimportance of many of the changes 
— changes that no man would be likely to have made, unless from 
belief that he was restoring the precise language of the poet. 
It is not easy to imagine that any one would trouble himself to 
conjecture whether the "sure and firm set earth," might not be 
the " sound and firm set earth, 1 ' or whether Lucio should not say 
" I warrant so it is" instead of " I warrant it is." Such emenda- 
tions, seem to have neither point nor meaning, unless we suppose 
them taken from some authority, which the writer deemed free 
from corruption. 

As some apology seems necessary for incurring any hazard of 
increasing the mass of unprofitable Shaksperian literature, which 
has been so liberally bestowed upon the world, it may be men- 
tioned that these "new readings" are made public in accordance 
with the suggestion of a gentleman, whose extensive research and 
conservative criticism, entitle him to the first position among in- 
terpreters of the poet. Under any circumstances, however, reluc- 
tance must be felt in offering comment upon the writings of the 
Dramatist, whose wit, unlike that of his greatest comic creation, 
has been the cause of so much dullness in others. J. P. Q. 



T ]•: M P E S T , 



Act 1. Scene I. 



The first correction in the play corresponds with that 
in Mr. Collier's folio. 

" Good Boatswain, have a care." In the same speech 
" Play the men " is changed to " Ply the men." 



Scene 2. 

" Not a soul 
But. felt a fever of the mad, and play'd 
Some tricks of desperation." 

" A fever of the mind" is substituted by the corrector. 

" O dear father, 
Make not too rash a trial of him, for 
He 'a gentle, and not fearful." 

If we take "fearful " in its common acceptation of " tim- 
orous," the proposed change certainly renders the passage 
clearer. 

" He's gentle Iho not fearful.'' 



Iii iis rarer signification of "that which excites terror '' 

no alteration is needed. 

Act II. Scene 1. 
" The visitor will not give him o'er so." 

For ••visitor'' we are instructed to read adversary. 

" Had I plantation of this isle, my lord." 

For "plantation" the planting is substituted. 

" I am more serious than my custom ; you 
Must be so too, if heed me ; which to do 
Trebles thee o'er." 

Some obscurity has always lingered in the concluding 
line in spite of several ingenious explanations. The cor- 
rector proposes "Troubles thee sore" which removes all 
difficulty. 

" My master through his art foresees the danger 
That you his friend are in : and sends me forth 
(For else his project dies) to keep them living." 

It is difficult to see the propriety of this passage as it 
at present stands. It can only mean that Prospero was 
anxious, not for Gonzalo, but for those who were conspir- 
ing against his life. Dr. Johnson proposed to read "That 
these his friends are in." The corrector makes the mean- 
ing yet more clear by changing a word in the last line — 
" to keep you living." 



Si ENE 2. 

Stephano, struck with the singular appearance of Cali- 
ban, says, " If I can recover him and keep him tame, I 
will not take too much for him." The expression "too 
much" has found four interpretations, which shows that 
its meaning is not very obvious. Both words have been 
erased by the corrector, and the number 100 written in the 
margin. That this number might, have been easily mis- 
taken for the word too in the manuscript, and the much 
afterwards inserted as a common sequent, is all that can 
be said in its favor. 

Act IV. Scene 1. 
After the benediction sung by Juno and Ceres in the 
masque, Ferdinand exclaims: 

" This is a most majestic vision, and 
Harmonious charmingly." 

The corrector here concurs with a suggestion that has 
been made, 

" Harmonious charming /«y." 

" I will fetch off my bottle, though I be o'er 
ears for my labor." 

The annotator sees fit to strengthen the assertion of 
Stephano by writing " o'er head and ears." 

Act V. Scene 1. 
" On the bat's back I do fly 
After summer, merrily." 

The reading proposed by Theobald has been adopted. 
" After sunset merrily." 



MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 



Act I. Scene 1. 

The difficulty at the threshold of this comedy, upon 
which Mr. Collier's critic has tried his skill, is differently 
solved by our corrector. 

" Of government the properties to unfold 
Would seem in me t' affect speech and discourse, 
Since I am put to know, that your own science 
Exceeds in that the lists of all advice 
My strength can give you ; then, no more remains, 
But that to your sufficiency, as your worth is able, 
And let them work." 

The first change " Since I am not to know," although 
entirely uncalled for, might be a quaint way of strengthen- 
ing the compliment, meaning since in that case I should 
be ignorant, &c. Mr. Collier's " great improvement " is 
in the sixth line where "that" is turned into " add" and 
the two last words erased. Our corrector throws quite as 
much light upon the passage by the change of a single 
letter. 

" Put that to your sufficiency, as your worth is able, 
And let them work." 



Iii other words, add your theoretical knowledge to your 
general capability, and the result is certain. This hitter 
change has been suggested. 

Act I. Scene 1. 
" Which for these fourteen years we have let sleep." 
" Which for these nineteen years we have let slip" 

These changes have been suggested. 

Act II. Scene H. 
" We cannot weigh our brother with ourself." 
" We cannot weigh our brother with yourself." 

The propriety of this reading, which accords with a 
suggestion of Dr. Warburton's, seems evident from the 
context. 

Scene 3. 

" O injurious love 
That respites me a life, whose very comfort 
Is still a dying horror ! " 

Hanmer's suggestion of " injurious lav " agrees with the 
correction. 

Act III. Scene 1. 

" So then you hope of pardon from Lord Angelo." 
" So then you're hope of pardon from Lord Angelo." 

" And the delighted spirit 
To bathe in fiery Hoods," &c. 

The corrector says "dilated spirit," a reading which 
seems much better than the old one. notwithstanding what 
Warburton says in its favor. The suggestion has been 
made bv a modern editor. 



LO 



Lucio, having- stated the vicious propensities of the 
absent duke, says, "A shy fellow was the duke; and 
I believe 1 know the cause of his withdrawing." The 
corrector makes it "A sly fellow was the duke," a reading 
thai accords much better with the context. 

" He's now past it, yet and I say to thee, &c, " evidently 
" He's not past it yet," as Ha inner and our corrector would 
read it. 

Act IV. Scene 1. 

" Our corn's to reap, for yet our tithe's to sow." 

The corrector reads it according to the proposed change 
of Warburton — 

" Our corn 's to reap, for yet our tilths to sow." 

Of the propriety of this alteration there cannot be much 
doubt. 

Scene 4. 

" For my authority bears a credent bulk." 

The old copy reads "bears of a credent bulk." 

Steevens conjectured that "of" was a misprint for "off," 
but did not insert it, as the line was long enough without. 
The corrector compromises the matter by giving us, 

"For my authority bears off a credence." 



Act V. Scene I. 

The duke begins his seventh speech, "By mine honor" 
instead of " By mine honesty," which has too many sylla- 
bles for the measure. 

" How he refelled me, and how I replied." 

Refelled is changed to repeVd as in several modern 
editions. 

" These poor informal women are no more, 
But instruments of some more mightier member, 
That sets them on." 

" These poor informing' women are no more, 
But instruments of some more mighty member, 
That sets them on." 



MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 



Tin; few corrections in this play are hardly worth no- 
ticing. 

Benedict says [Act II. Scene 3,] that the lady who shall 
captivate him must be "virtuous, or I'll never cheapen 
her; fair, or I'll never look on her; mild, or come not near 
me; noble or not I, for an angel," &c. The last "I" is 
changed to me by the corrector. 

Don Pedro, in the same scene, says, that if the same 
net is spread for Beatrice, with which Benedict has just 
been caught, " the sport will be, when they hold one an 
opinion of another's dotage." The " one " may have been 
misplaced by the compositor; if so, its true position is re- 
stored by the corrector. " The sport will be when they 
hold an opinion of one another's dotage." 

In Dogberry's speech [Act IV. Scene 2,] " Yea, marry, 
that's the eftest way," deftest has been substituted for 
" eftest," agreeing with the suggestion of Theobald. 



A S Y O U L I K E I T 



Act I. Scene 1. 

Orlando, speaking of the cruel treatment of his brother, 
says, " The something that nature gave me, his counte- 
nance seems to take from me ;" should it not be according 
to the opinion of Warburton and our corrector — "his 
discountenance seems to take from me." 



" Rosalind lacks then the love 
Which teaches thee, that thou and I am one." 

Evidently according to Theobold's suggestion, 

" Which teaches me that thou and I are one.'' 

Act II. Scene 3. 

"When service should in my old limbs lie lame," " be 
lame,'' says the correction. In the same speech the "hot 
and rebellious liquors" are applied "/o" and not "in the 
blood." 



1 1 



Act II. Scene 1. 



'• T<> fright the animals and to kill them up." 
" To fright the animals and kill them too." 



SrENE 5. 

" Sirs, cover the while, the duke will drink under 

this tree." 

"The duke will dine under this tree," seems to accord 
better with the banquet that follows. 

Act III. Scene 5. 

" Nor, I am sure, there is no force in eyes 
That can do hurt." 

A glance at the context will show the propriety of the 
change. 

" Now, I am sure, there is no force in eyes." 

" What though you have no beauty 
( As by my faith I see no more in you 
Than without candle may go dark to bed.)" 

Malone reads, " What though you have some beauty. " 
( )ther editors have suggested that " no " was a blunder 
for " mo." According to the corrector this was the case. 

" What though you have more beauty, 
Yet by my faith, &c." 



L5 



Act IV. Scene 1. 



" Make the doors upon a woman's wit, and it will out 
at the casement." The corrector supplies a word that 
seems to have been dropped, " Make the doors fast upon 
a woman's wit, &c." 

Act IV. Scene 3. 

The first speech of Rosalind is as follows, " How say 
you now ? Is it not past two o'clock ? And here much 
Orlando." Some modern editors, not being able to make 
anything out of the phrase, " And here much Orlando," 
have supplied its place with " / wonder much Orlando is 
not here" a change for which there is not a particle of 
authority. The substitution of a single word removes all 
difficulty. 

" Is it not past two o'clock? And here's no Orlando." 

Act V. Scene 4. 

Touchstone, speaking of the peace-making virtues of 
the word, " If," says that he knew it effectual when 
" seven justices could not take up a quarrel." The pro- 
priety of the correction is obvious. " I knew when seven 
justices could not make up a quarrel, &c. 



T W E L F T H NIG H T . 



Act I. Scene 1. 

" 8<i full of shapes is fancy, 
That it alone is high fantastical." 

" Alone" is changed to all o'er in the last line. 

" The element itself till seven years' heat, 
Shall not behold her face al ample view." 

The correction stands "seven years' hence " — a much 
simpler expression of the meaning. 



Scene 2. 

" Oh that I served that lady 
And might not be delivered to the world." 

The corrector reads 

" And 7 might not be delivered to the world." 

Meaning, that the fact of her entering the service of 
Olivia, might for a time be concealed. 



17 



Scene 3. 

Two corrections occur in the speech of Sir Toby, just 
before the entrance of Sir Andrew Ague-cheek. 

"What wench? Castiliano vulgo ; for here comes Sir 
Andrew Ague-face." " We should road ( 'astiliano volto" 
says Warburton, and our corrector is of the same opinion. 
Sir Andrew is given his proper title of " Ag\ic-cheek." 

Scene 5. 

" I protest, I take these wise men, that crow so at 
these set kind of fools, no better than fools' zanies." 

The corrector supplies two words — " to be no better 
than fools zanies," as in Mr. Collier's last edition of the 
play. 

Act II. Scene 2. 
" Fortune forbid, my outside have not charmed her! - ' 

From the context it is very evident that the meaning of 
the line as it stands at present, is directly opposite to the 
hope Viola wishes to express. 

" Fortune forbid my outside should have charmed 
her!" 

reads the corrector. In the same speech we have, 

" My master loves her dearly ; 
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him." 
3 



IS 

The correction changes "monster" to " minister" — a 
word that expresses exactly the relation that Viola sus- 
tained to the passion of the duke. 



Malvolio accuses the tipsy party of " squeaking clothier's 
catches," instead of " cozier's catches." 

Scene 4. 

The duke (according to the corrector) tells Viola, that 
the fancies of men, are " sooner lost and won, than 
women's are." Hanmer suspected that this was the true 
reading, and not " worn," as in the folio. 

Act III. Scene 1. 

Viola's soliloquy ends with this line — 

" But wise men folly fallen quite taint their wit." 

According to Hanmer's suggestion, and our alteration, 
the line reads, 

" But wise men's folly shewn, quite taint their wit." 

Act V. Scene 1. 

In the last speech in the play we find the line, 

" When that is known and golden time convents," — 

'•Convents" seems to have been unsatisfactory to the 
commentators. Steevens proposes " consents," but our 
corrector tells us the word is convenes. 



KING HENEY IV 



There are nineteen corrections in the two parts of this 
play — most of them of very trifling significance. 

In the address of the King to the Prince of Wales, [Act 
III. Scene 2,] the former monarch is described as laughing 
'• with gibing boys" instead of "at" them. The applica- 
tion of the last line in the same scene is made more 
particular by reading, 

" Advantage feeds him fat, while n:c delay." 

Instead of " while men delay." 

In a following scene [Act IV. Scene 1,] 

" For well you know, we of the offering side, 
Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement," 

the correction stands, " we of the offending- side." 

In scene third of the same act, 

" You speak it out of fear, and a cold heart." 
The supplied article certainly improves the metre. 



20 

In the second part of the play, [Act II. Scone IV,] the 
prince calls Falstaff this "Anavc of awheel," — the"k" 
being taken from the margin. 

Pistol's concluding speech [Act V. Scene 3,] is made to 
end with a rhyme, as in Mr. Colliers folio. 

" Where is the life that late I led, say they ; 
Why here it is ; Welcome this pleasant day.' 1 '' 

" Those pleasant days," is the usual reading. 



JULIUS CjESAR. 



Act I. Scene 1. 

An unimportant word is added to the second speech 
of Flavius. 

" Thou art a cobler then, art thou?" 

" I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's 
matters." 

The corrector reads, 

" I meddle with no man's matters, nor women's 
matters." 

" See whe'r their basest metal be not moved," 
" See whether that base metal be not moved." 



Scene 2. 

" Set honor in one eye, and death i' the other," 
And I will look on both indifferently : " 

It is not easy to see how Brutus could have looked on 
honor and death indifferently, for could he have chosen 



22 

between the two, he would undoubtedly have preferred 
honor. 

The meaning of the passage of course is, that a sacrifice 
of honor would be too dear a price to pay for the preser- 
vation of life. Is not this more clearly expressed by the 
corrector ; 

" Set honor in one eye, and death i' the other, 
And I will look on death indifferently." 

When Caesar offered his throat for the populace to cut, 
Casca declares that had he been a man of any occupa- 
tion, he would have "taken him at a word," — "taken 
him at his word," says the corrector. 



Act II. Scene 1. 

"But when he once attains the utmost round." 
" But when he once attains the topmost round." 

" Three parts of him 
Is ours already." 

The corrector, as in other instances, puts the verb in the 
plural, " Arc ours already." 

Brutus addressing conspiracy is made to say, 

" For if thou path thy native semblance on," &c. 
" For if thou put thy native semblance on " — 

as the line has been corrected, is surely simpler and better. 



Act 111. Scene 1. 

" To you ours words have leaden points, Mark Antony ; 
Our arms, in strength of malice," &c. 

" In strength of malice," seems to have sorely tried the 
commentators. Pope proposed "exempt from malice" 
and with this reading our corrector concurs. 

Act IV. Scene 3. 

Ill the quarrel scene between Brutus and Cassius, the 
change of a single word makes an important difference in 
the character and temper of one of the persons. Cassius 

says — 

" A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, 
But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.*' 

To which Brutus replies, 

" I do not, till you practise them on me." 

According to this reading, Brutus seems to acknowledge 
that he has been exaggerating the frailties of Cassius; a 
confession which hardly seems to belong to the calm char- 
acter of the " Noblest Roman," or likely to be made at the 
height of the dispute. 

The line corrected reads thus, 

" I do not ; though you practise them on me." 



M ACBET II 



Act I. Scene 1. 
li So they, doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe." 

Steevcns would strike out " so they," and read " redoub- 
ling" for " redoubled," in order to get rid of the irregu- 
larity in the metre. This is accomplished by the corrector, 
by the simple erasure of the word " doubly." 

" Till he disbursed at Saint Colmes' inch," 

The corrector reads " Saint Colmes-kill Isle," a change 
adopted by some modern editors, but, according to Stee- 
vens, " very erroneously." 

Scene 3. 

" And the very ports they blow, 
All the quarters that they know 
I' the shipman's card." 

Steevens tells us that he formerly read "points," instead 
of " ports," but thought better of it on discovering that 



25 

"to blow," in ancient language may mean, "to blow 
upon." The annotator notwithstanding says, "points" 
which is not unlikely to have been the genuine reading. 

" I am Thane of Cawdor : 
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion, 
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, 
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, 
Against the use of nature ? Present fears 
Are less than horrible imaginings: 
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, 
Shakes so my single state of man, that function 
Is smothered in surmise; and nothing is 
But what is not. - ' 



The correction of three blunders which the copyist may 
readily have committed, makes this passage more simple 
and consistent. 

" Whose horrid image doth affix my hair, 
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, 
Against the use of nature ? Present feats 
Are less than horrible imaginings; 
My thought whose burthen yet is lint fantastical," &c. 

By changing a single letter in fears we greatly in- 
crease the antithesis, and get rid of the obscurity which 
has always called for a note upon this line. The sub- 
stitution of '■•burthen" for the " murther," of the folio 
must be regarded as a happy emendation. 
4 



26 



Scene 4. 



The Thane of Cawdor is represented as " studying" 

instead of '-studied," in his death. 

" More is thy due than more than all can pay." 
" More is thy due, much more than all can pay." 

" Noble Banquo, 
That hast no loss deserved, nor must be known 
No less to have done so." 

"TIiou hast no less deserved, and must be known 
No less to have done so." 



Scene 5. 

" Thou'dst have great Glamis, 
That which cries, Thus thou must do if thou have it." 

" Thus thou must do if thou wilt have it." 

" And take my milk for gall." 
" And turn my milk to gall." 

" Thy letters have transported me beyond 
This ignorant present." 

"This ignorant present time." 



■ 27 



: T. 

" But here upon this bunk and shoal of time," — 
" But then upon this bank and shoal of time," — 

" This even-handed justice 
Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice 
To our own lips." 

■• Returns, the ingredients of our poison'd chalice." — 

" His two chamberlains 
Will I with wine and wassel so convince," — 

" So overcome" is the correction. 

Lady Macbeth proposes that officers shall bear the guilt 
of the " great ill," instead of the " great quell," that she 
has in hand. 

Act II. Scene 1. 

Banquo, after speaking of the manner in which Duncan 
had complimented the officers and wife of his host, con- 
cludes, 

" And shut up 
In measureless content." 

Various commentators have given us notes upon the 
expression " and shut up." The correction seems to clear 
all difficulty. 

" And is shut 
In measureless content." 



28 

The corrector thinks that "the" has been improperly 
placed in the sentence beginning, "Now o'er the one 
half world. - ' " Now o'er one half the world," may be 
preferable. 

[II. Si ene !. 

" Get thee gone; to-morrow 
We'll hear ourselves again." 

"TAee" is inserted between " hear" and "ourselves," to 
the improvement of the evident sense, if not of the metre. 

'• The least is sold, 
That is not often vouched," — 

"Sold" might have been mistaken for " cold" as the 
corrector and Pope have suggi 

" Augurs, and understood relations have, 
By magot pyes, and choughs, and rooks, brought forth 
The secret'st man of blood." 

The corrections in these lines have been suggested by 
modern editors. Concerning the propriety of the first, 
there can be little doubt. 

'• Augurs, ///'// understood relations have, 
By mag-pics and by choughs and rooks, brought forth 
The secret'st man of blood." 

" There's not a one of them," a lew lines farther on is 



29 

altered to •■ there's not a thane of them, - ' agreeing with 
the change in D'Avenant's version of the tragedy. 



Act IV. Scene 1. 
" Thrice and once the hedge pig, whined."' 

The corrector gives the line, " Twice and once," ecc. 
" Odd numbers," Mr. Theobald remarks in suggesting 
this change, " are used in enchantments and magical 
operations." 

The number three, it may be added, is continually recur- 
ring in the conjurations of the witches. 



" I take my leave of you, 
Shall not be long, but I'll be here again." 

The correction runs, " T' shall not be long." The 
omission of an " it " seems very apparent. 



" And wisdom 
To offer up a weak poor innocent lamb," — 

And "'t is wisdom," reads the corrector. The omission 
of a word here litis often been remarked. 

"Summer seeming lust," has been changed to "sum- 



30 



mer teeming' lust," as Warburton suggested; "catch" is 
substituted for latch in the latter part of this scene. 



Act V. Scene 3. 
•• Send out more horses. Skirr the country round." 
'• Skirt the country round," as corrected. 

Si ene 5. 
'■ I shall report that which I say I saw," — 

The " I say" so evidently superfluous, has been erased 
by the corrector. 

"I pull in resolution," says Dr. Johnson, "is a phrase 
without either example, elegance or propriety ; it is surely 
better to read, " I pall in resolution." The corrector is of 
the same opinion. 

Scene 7. 

" I see thee compassed with thy kingdom's pearl, 
That speak my salutation in their minds." 

" Kingdom's pearl " was changed to " kingdom's peers" 
by Rowe. Malone endeavors to show that, as it is a 
metaphorical expression, no alteration is necessary. It is 
not so easy on this supposition to account for " their 
minds," which refers to a plural noun. Rowe's change, 
with which the corrector agrees, seems as likely to be the 
true read in2\ 



HAMLET 



Act I. Scene 2. 



" The lists and full proportions are all made 
Out of his subject." 

The last word,.?///'/''''- should evidently be in the plural: 
the " s "' is accordingly added by the corrector. 



Scene 3. 

" Not to crack the wind of the poor phrase 
Roaming it thus." 

For "roaming," the corrector gives us, not " wronging," 
as usually substituted, but "wringing" as Warburton 
suggested. 

Scene 5. 

" Now to my word, 
It is, adieu, adieu! remember me." 

'• Ward" is substituted for "word," referring probably 
to the solemn clntv which Hamlet had just undertaken. 



32 



Act II. Scene I. 

Polonius tells Reynaldo, that among the various foreign- 
ers in Paris with whom he must mingle, to ascertain the 
conduct of Laertes, he will be addressed as, 

" Good sir, or so, or friend, or gentleman, 
According to the phrase or the addition, 
Of man or country.'' 

Malone translates "or so,'' into "and so forth," hut does 
not tell us why "or" should lie used for "and," or why 
the " and so forth" does not follow the " additions" that 
are named. 

Is it not better to read, 

" Good sir, or sir, or friend, or gentleman ; " 

" I am sorry that, with better heed and judgment, 
I had not quoted him." 

The quarto has " coted," instead of "quoted,"' and to 
this reading the corrector has returned. 

Scene 2. 
" In her excellent white bosom, these," &c. 
" To her excellent," &c. 

"Be you and 1 behind an arras, then 
Marl; the encounter." 

"Lei you and I behind an arras, then 
Mark the encounter." 



33 



Act III. Scene I. 

In the celebrated soliloquy the corrector supports Pope's 
suggestion of the "siege of troubles;" thus changing the 
unfortunate metaphor that has occasioned so much com- 
ment, to one of singular felicity- It should be observed, 
however, that a jumbling of metaphors is by no means 
peculiar to Shakspeare ; nor is it sufficient cause to justify 
an alteration of the text. ' ; The poor man's contumely," 
and " the pangs of dispriz'd love," are corrected as in Mr. 
Colliers folio. 

" The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, 
sword." 

The impropriety of appropriating the tongue to the 
soldier, and making the scholar wear the sword, has been 
remarked by Warner, who would read the line as does our 
annotator. 

" The courtier's, scholar's, soldier's, eye, tongue, 
sword." 

To an equivocal remark of Hamlet's, in the next scene, 
Ophelia is made to say, "still better, and worse." This 
is altered to " still worse and worse." 

Scene ?■. 
" Though inclination be as sharp as will." 
" Though inclination be as sharp as /'will." 

This emendation, of which the felicity seems very appa- 
rent, agrees with a suggestion of Theobald's. 



34 



Scene 4. 

"Rebellious Hell 
If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones," — 

For " Rebellious Hell," we are told to read "rebellious 
//eft/," a change that the context seems to support. 

When the Ghost is leaving the chamber of the Queen, 
Hamlet is made to exclaim, 

'• Why look you there! Look how it steals away; 
My father in his habit as he lived! 
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal ! " 

The expression "Look how it steals away," accords little 
with the general demeanor of the ghost, or the peculiar 
circumstances under which it. was then referred to. The 
apparition was not disappearing in some remote corner of 
the chamber, but advancing to the door of the apartment, 
as the natural mode of exit. It is not difficult to believe 
that Shakspeare wrote the line as it stands corrected in 
this folio : 

" Why look you there! Look how it stalks away." 

It may be remarked that the movement of the ghosl is 
described by this word in an earlier part of the play: 

" With martial stalk, hath he gone by our watch." 

Act IV. Scene 7. 
" Who was if praises may go back again." 

"ll7/<>, once" is substituted for -who was," an alter- 



35 

ation, so far as sense or propriety is concerned, of no great 
value. 

Act V. Scene 'J. 

The corrector follows the later quarto in making the 
king throw an "onyx" instead of " an union" in the cup 
from which he drinks. The exclamation of Hamlet, "I 
am dead, Horatio," is changed to "i die, Horatio.'" Both 
metre and accuracy are improved by the change. 

" O proud deatli ! 
What, feast is toward in thine eternal cell." 

The annotator reads "infernal cell," which in connec- 
tion with the context seems quite as proper. 



KING LEAR. 



Act I. Scene 1. 



France and Burgundy, "strive to be interess'd" "in" 
and not " to " the young love of Cordelia. 

" The best, the dearest, should in this trice of time."' 
" And dearest, best, should in this trice of time." 

The metre is improved by the change. 

Cordelia addresses her sisters directly as 

" Ye jewels of our father," instead of " The jewels." 

She commits the king to the "professing- bosoms" of 
his daughters, not the "professed bosoms." Both these 
readings have been suggested. 

Some obscurity in the opening lines of Edmund's solil- 
oquy is removed by the correction of two blunders, that 
the copyist may easily have made. 

" Wherefore should I 
Stand in the plague of custom ; and permit 



The curiosity of nations to deprive me, 

For that I am some twelve or thirteen moonshines 

Lag of a brother." 

" Wherefore should I 
Stand on the plague of custom, and permit 
The courtesy of nations to deprive me," — 

" Courtesy" for " curiosity," corresponds with a sugges- 
tion of Theobald's. 

For " deprive " in the foregoing quotation, a pencilled 
correction gives us "despise ;" a change quite uncalled for 
if we take "deprive" in its old meaning of "disinherit." 

Scene 4. 
" I had thought by making this well known unto you." 

Two superfluous syllables are erased in this line ; 

"I thought by making this well knoivn to you." 

Two words added to the malediction of Lear, serve to 
complete a line. 

" Hear, nature, hear ; dear goddess hear a father."' 

" Let me still take away the harms I fear, 
Nor fear still to be taken." 

For " taken," the corrector reads " harmed." 



38 

Act II. Scene 1. 
" My worthy arch and patron comes to-night." 

As corrected, the line reads, 

" My worthy and arch-patron, comes to-night." 

Scene '3. 

"The king must take it ill 
That he's so lightly valued in his messenger, 
Should have him thus restrained." 

" To have him thus restrained" is clearly the sense of 
the passage. 

Scene 4. 

2. \ " To wage against the enmity o'the air; 
1- I To be a comrade with the wolf and owl ;" 

The figures placed against these lines by the corrector, 
indicate that their order should be reversed. If this is 
done, it destroys the emendation in Mr. Collier's folio, 
where the wolf is made to howl, " necessity's sharp 
pinch." 

" You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need." 

For the second patience the word "which" is happily 
substituted. 



:^9 
The correction connects Lear's exclamation, 
" I have full cause for weeping," 
with the preceding sentence. 

"Though I've full cause for weeping." 

Act 111. Scene 2. 

Lear has "one place" not '-one part" in his heart, that 
sorrows for the exposure of his attendant. 

In the rhyming prophecy of the fool with which the 
scene concludes, a defective line is made out by making 
the realm of Albion, come "unto" instead of " to " great 
confusion. 



The corrector thinks a word has been dropped from the 
articles of Edgar's pretended diet, — "the wall-newt and 
the wa.tei-newt. 



" The sea with such a storm as his bare head 
In hell black night endured, would have buoy'd up 
And quenched the stilled fires." 

Perhaps " boiled up " as the corrector has altered it. 

Act IV. Scene 6. 

Edgar, after describing the cliff at Dover, declares he 
would not leap " upright." " Outright " seems to be prop- 



40 

crly substituted. Warburton suggested this change. In 
a previous scene, the famous cliff is described as looking 
"oh" instead of " in the confined deep." 

After Gloster has fallen, his son fears lest, 

" Conceit may rob 
The treasury of life." 

" The treasure of his life," reads the corrector; an altera- 
tion of so little consequence that we can hardly believe 
it made, without a supposed authority. 

"Ha Goneril — with a white beard — They flattered 
me like a dog," cVc. 

The words " with a white beard," are crossed out, and 
" Ha Reg-ail, " substituted, as in the quarto. 

When Lear asks Gloster to read the challenge, the Earl 
replies, that were the letters suns, they would be dark to 
him; and when still urged by his master, rejoins, 

" What! with the case of eyes ! " 

This exclamation is rendered plainer by the simple 
change, 

" What! with this case of eyes! ' 

Malone, in rejecting this alteration which was made by 
Rowe, declares that Shakspeare could not have written 
"this ease;" since, at the time when he lived, the words 
would have been equivalent to " this pair of eyes." The 
freedom of expression found in every page of the Poet, 
must set aside such an objection. The phrase "in this 
case," at the time of Elizabeth as at present, meant — in 



41 

this condition — under these circumstances. That "this 
case of eyes" might, without supposing any extraordinary 
poetic license, have been written for eyes in this condition, 
seems sufficiently probable. 

Act V. Scene 3. 

" Thy great employment 
" Will not bear question." 

According to the corrector, it is Edmund who claims 
the great employment, the sentence beginning with " my 'i 
instead of " thy." 

Of the same description is the correction in the lines 
where Edmund, referring to the king and his daughter, 
says, 

" They are ready 
To-morrow, or at further space, to appear 
Where you shall hold your session." 

We are told to read "where we shall hold our session,'' 
the propriety of which change is very obvious from the 
tenor of the next speech — 

" Sir, by your patience, 
I hold you but a subject of this war. 
Not as a brother." 

Regan, after bestowing all the power which she posses- 
sed upon Edmund, goes on to say, "the walls are thine." 
This is altered to, " the galls are thine.'' 

With this reading the sentence would be addressed to 
Goneril, a change that the context will very well admit. 
6 



42 

The exclamations, "Save him, oh save him!" after 
Edmund lias fallen in the combat with his brother, are 
very properly given to Goneril instead of Albany, who 
cannot be supposed to feel much interest in the pre- 
servation of the man he has just denounced as a traitor 
and seducer. This error has been remarked by Theo- 
bald. 

" Kent. — Is this the promised end? 
Edgar. — Or image of that horror? 
Albany. — Fall and cease. 

Lear. — This feather stirs," &c. 

The speeches given to Edgar and Albany have been 
carefully erased by many strokes of the pen. 

The last correction in the play commends itself by its 
grammatical propriety. 

" hear. — He's a good fellow, I can tell you that 

He'll strike and quickly too. He's dead, and 
rotten." 

" T' was a good fellow, I can tell you that 
He\l strike and quickly too. He's dead and rotten." 



OTHELLO 



Act I. Scene 1. 

Iago speaks of those who throw "out shows of service 
to their lords," instead of " but shows." "lam not what 
I am," in the same speech is changed to " I am not what 
I seem," the obvious sense of the passage. Roderigo 
thinks the Moor very fortunate if "lie can carry her thus," 
instead of "it thus." The citizens are "snoring'" not 
" snorting," according to the corrector. Desdemona ties 
her fortune "to" and not " in an extravagant and wheel- 
ing stranger." Pope has suggested this change. 

Scene 3. 

" And hath, in his effect, a voice potential 
A.s double as the duke's." 

Several commentators have endeavored to explain the 
expression "as double as the duke's," but their efforts do 
not appear to be very successful. May it not be possible 
that the poet wrote as the corrections indicate. 

" And hath, in its effect, a voice potential 
As noble as the duke's." 



44 

The corrector supports Theobald's suggestion in making 
Othello say that his demerits " may speak and bonnetted 
to as proud a fortune " as that he had just acquired. To 
speak " unbonnetted " is directly opposite the sense of the 
passage. The word "consuls'' in a speech of Cassio's a 
little further on is changed to " council." So also in the 
previous scene " toged councillors " is written for " toged 
consuls." Brabantio accuses Othello of having used drugs 
or minerals that '-weaken motion." Modern editors have 
generally read "waken motion." The corrector by sim- 
ply changing "m" into "n" has "weaken notion." A 
similar use of the two words in King Lear, [Act II. Scene 
IV,] supports this reading, which corresponds with a 



Scene 3. 

Brabantio says that his particular grief, 

"engluts and swallows other sorrows, 
And it is still itself." 

" And yet is still itself," says the correction. 

Othello is asked to " relate " not " dilate," his pilgrim- 
age. He finds a " natural and prompt alacrity " in " hardi- 
ness" instead of " hardness." The corrector restores the 
reading of the quarto which makes Cupid "foil" instead 
of seel. " the active instruments." 



45 



Act II. Scene I. 
" And this, and this, the greatest discords be, 
That e'er our hearts shall make ! " 

"Let this," &c. 

"I'll set down the pegs that make this music, 
As honest as I am." 

For "set down" the usual phrase " let down," is substi- 
tuted. This has been suggested by Pope. 

Scene 3. 
" And passion having my best judgment eollied," — 

The corrector reads " cholerd" which seems nearer the 
misprint (if it be one), and full as proper as Mr. Collier's 
" quelled." 

Act III. Scene 3. 

Desdemona assures Cassio that she will "use all her 
abilities in his behalf," instead of " do all her abilities." 

" Thou had'st been better have been born a dog," — 
" Thou had'st much better," &c. 

Scene 4. 

" The hearts of old gave hands." 

" Hands and hearts " change places according to the 
suggestion of Warburton. " The hands of old gave 
hearts." 



46 

" Nor my wish 
To have him sec me woman'd." 

" Nor do /wish," *.Vc. 

Act 1 V. Scene 2. 
" Either in discourse of thought, or actual deed." 

The line is certainly plainer and stronger, if we read 
with Pope and the corrector, 

" Either in discourse, or thought, or actual deed." 
The next line but one. 

" Delighted them in any other form," 

seems more properly " on any other form," according to 
the correction. 

Scene '.i. 

Desdemona's song is described as an "old thing;" this 
the corrector alters to "odd thing." "Mo women" and 
" mo men " in the last line of the song are changed to " no 
women " and " no men." 

Act V. Scene 2. 

" Put out the light, and then put out the light." 

It is possible that the line should read as has been 
suspected ; 

" Put out the light, and then put out thy light." 



47 

The last correction in the play occurs in a line that has 
given rise to as much discussion as any thing in the writ- 
ings of the Poet. 

" Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away 
Richer than all his tribe." 

Tin' reading of (he first quarto "Indian" has found its 
supporters. The prevailing opinion however has adhered 
to "Judean" as in the folio. Several different explana- 
tions of the allusion have been offered, but none seem very 
satisfactory. The corrector substitutes " Egyptian " for 
" base Judean." 

"Like the Egyptian, threw a pearl away.'' 

At the bottom of the page he writes this note : " " Al- 
luding to the story of the CEgyjitiaa thief." It will be 
remembered that, a reference to this story occurs in the 
Twelfth Night. 

" Like to the Egyptian thief at point of death, 
Kill what I love." 



ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 



Act I. Scene 2. 



" I shall break 
The cause of our expedience to the queen, 
And get her love to part." 

The corrector changes " love " to " leave." This has 
been suggested. 

Scene 3. 
" Though you in swearing shake the throned gods." 

" Though you with swearing, shake the throned gods." 

Scene 4. 

" His faults, in him, seem as the spots of heaven 
JMore fiery for night's blackness." 

The corrector reads "stars of heaven," — thus doing his 
best to destroy the felicity of the comparison, and render a 
striking line tame and prosaic. 



49 



Act II. Scene 1. 



Cleopatra's lip is neither "wan'd," as commonly printed, 
or " warm," as in Mr. Collier's folio, but simply " wan" 

■■ That sleep and feeding may prorogue li is honor 
Even till a Lethe'd dulness." 

" Even to a Lethe'd dulness." 



" Noble friends, 
That which combined us was most great, and let not 
A leaner action rend us.'' 

"A meaner action rend us. " 



" All which time 
Before the gods my knee shall bow my prayers 
To them for yon." 

" Modern editors have licentiously read ' bow in pray- 
ers,'" says a note of Steevens. The corrector, neverthe- 
less, so reads it. 

Si i nk 7. 

•• Sit, and some wine. — A health to Lepidus." 

The correction reads. 

•• Sirrah, some wine. — A health to Lepidus." 



50 



Act III. Scene 2. 

The fifth speech of Agrippa is made to answer the pre- 
ceding question, 

" Of Antony; O the Arabian bird!" 

"O Antony! O thou Arabian bird!" is the usual read- 
ing. 

VCT III Si EI l 0. 

" And the high gods 
To do you justice, make them ministers, 
Of us, and those who love you." 

The corrector changes " them " to " their" 

" Make their ministers." 



In the last line but one in the scene occurs the expres- 
sion, 

" With news the time's with labor." 

" With news the time's in labor;" is the change of the 
corrector. 

Scene 10. 

" Such as 1 am, I come from Antony : 
T was of late as petty to his ends. 
As is the morning dew on the myrtle leaf 
To his grand sea." 



51 

The corrector concurs with a change that has been sug- 
gested by reading, 

" To the grand sen.'' 

Act V. Scene 1. 

' : I must perforce 
Have shown to thee such a declining day, • 
Or look on thine." 

••( )r looted on thine." 



The second speech after the lasl entrance of Dolabella, 
is inyen to Iras instead of Charmian. 






6 5 - 



" t ®~?£v%s. 



























i 

Deacidified using ihe Bookkeeper proces: 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Feb. 2009 



PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATIOI 
111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 





























































































^ N 



